Offical Second Life Blog

Menu

Why Halloween?

This post was about Halloween and what it means to me really and my culture. It is probably my favourite holiday.

Video:

Halloween:

Seeing as thought it is coming up to Halloween. (Well… it was coming up to Halloween when I first blogged this) Once Halloween is over it’s going to be Christmas stuff coming instantly. In fact, some shops get their Christmas stuff out on display before Halloween finishes here. It’s ridiculous.

I’m an avid Halloween fan. That and Christmas are both my favourite holidays. So it’s a good time of the year for me. I decided that today, I will talk a bit about Halloween. Some people don’t know what it is after all, because they don’t celebrate it. Bellow I will talk about it’s history and what Halloween is like when you’re living in a country of Celtic origin. Seeing as though Halloween is the offspring of my ancestor’s New Year.

A bit about Halloween:

Halloween originated from an old Gaelic holiday called Samhain (I pronounce it as Sou-in. But I know some American shows pronounced it wrong before; like Sama-hain or Sam-hain. I pronounce it the way it would be pronounced in the Irish language. Because I’m Irish.)

Samhain is a festival still common today in some neopagan religions. It is seen as the ‘Celtic New Year’. It was a time which crops would be harvested the last time that year for the coming winter. It is also a time in which we remember and respect the dead.

There would be many different traditions that would take place on this day. Most are still done today but not for the same reasons. Pumpkins would be carved and placed outside the home to ward off any evil spirits who wander the night. Masks would be worn to protect yourself from these spirits if you we’re outside. There were also many cleansing rituals done. Like walking between two bonfires set side by side. Divination was also a common practice at the time. I will talk more on these bellow.

Halloween Today:

Halloween is a common holiday in today’s world. But mostly as just a holiday of dressing up and having fun. Well in America anyway. Here in Ireland, we still keep some of the traditions strong and get back in touch with our Pagan roots.

You would be surprised how a lot of Halloween traditions and objects would date back into Ireland.

Take the Jack-o’-lantern for example:

Stingy Jack:

Several centuries ago, there was a man know as Stingy Jack. He was a drunk. He was known throughout the land as a manipulator. (In Irish slang today, Stingy is used to describe someone like this). One night, Jack was heard of by the Devil himself. His evil deeds peeked his interests. So the Devil went to find out how much of these rumours were actually true.

Typical of Jack to be wondering the country side late one night. He came to a cobblestone path. On this path, he found a body. Who turned out to be, the devil himself. Jack had realised that this was going to be his end. That someone had finally come to take his vile soul.

However; he had one last request. That he could drink some ale before he was taking to hell. The Devil found no harm in this and they left for the local pub. After a few drinks. Jack then asked the devil to transform himself into coin to pay for the drinks. One last evil deed. The devil was impressed with his cunning trickery.

Jack put the coin into his pocket, which he also had a crucifix. The devil couldn’t escape and they came to an arrangement that Jack would live for another 10 years if he set him free.

10 years later. The devil returned. Jack seemed more than willing to go with him, but first he wanted an apple to fill his stomach. As the devil foolishly climbed an apple tree for him, Jack placed crucifix’s around the base of the tree. Again, the devil was trapped. For his release he agreed to never take Jack’s soul to hell and left.

Eventually the drunkard Jack died. As his soul prepared to enter Heaven, he was stopped by St. Peter. Because of his sin filled life he was not to be allowed enter. So when Jack went to the gates of Hell. The devil could only fulfil their bargain and not let him enter. As a warning to others, the devil gave Jack an ember. Marking him as someone who could not enter both planes. He know travels the world between carrying his ember in a turnip. He was then known as ‘Jack of the Lantern.’

I hope you enjoyed my little tale! I know it’s set during Christian time but I think it’s an interesting talk of how the Jack-o’-Lantern came about.

Things We Do On Halloween:

One of the main traditions on Halloween still kept today is Guising, or Trick or Treating. It is a common tradition around the world in which people dress up and go from door to door to collect candy.
In olden times children would wear their masks to hide from spirits as they went to people’s homes and would preform to them for coin or food.

Barmbrack Cake is a tradition food in Ireland for the Halloween season. It is tradition to be baked at home and eaten with the family. It has some divination properties in it. Now a days however only rings are placed in. Where as before, there would also be a rag, stick, pea, and other items. Also today, it is mostly bought in a store rather than home baked. I’m going to bake my own this year so I’ll show ye the outcome in the future! It is a fruit cake. A slice is eaten by each member of the family. Who ever finds the ring is going to be married!

Apple bobbing and snap apple are other common games played. Snap apple is when a coin is put in the apple and it is hung from a string. It is swung and people must catch it with their teeth. Same thing applies for apple bobbing except the apples are floating in a bucket of water.

Bonfires are lit to celebrate the harvest and as I said before cleansing purposes. People would gather as a community around the one nearest them.

There are many more but to be honest, I don’t want to bore you.

Halloween In Second Life:

In second life there are normally Haunted Attractions you could visit. Or parties and club events etc. I will post about some as it gets closer to Halloween.

Today though I got in a very Halloween decorating mood with the upcoming Halloween bash at a Harry Potter sim I roleplay at.

I decided to design my own skybox. Maybe have a party there sometime. But I set up a spooky Halloween setting mainly for leisure. There is a tv and radio and I plan on adding lights and a dancing area, maybe some games too!

Here are the shots:

This is an amazing Circus tent which I found on Marketplace. It is called Circus Tent Small, made by
paramparamm (paramparamm.papp). It was made for relay for life 2010. You can check it out here.
The forest set I picked up is also amazing! They range from many different designs etc, depending on the setting you’re going for. It is made by Lilith Heart, it is called Dark Forest Set. You can check it out here.

The jukebox is a Second Life radio that I adore using! It can change into different designs and is called: SL Internet Radio. I can set all my Irish programs to is and listen to my local radio on my land. It is made by TrigiTec and you can check it out here.

Lastly, I got the pumpkins at {whats next} Home and Garden store. It is a set called Lots of Jack o Lanterns. I love them! You can check them out here.

Here is my own little cinema ❤

I got the TV from VEA Digital Media. It's an awesome tv with preset movies and you can watch youtube and all that shit on it. Only problem I'm having is trying to link an online video; like from putlocker. Onto it. If anyone knows can you let me know in the comments? Anyway. It is the VEA LEVA HOME 2. So I would recomend it to anyone. You can check it out here.

The pumpkin seats are soooo cute, I had to get them. Made by Rebel Xtravaganza, they are called PUMPKIN Chair. You can check them out here

Now, the tree stump is from {What Next} Home and Garden Store. It has four sits and is good for any Autumn type of setting. You can check it out here.

How do you like the design? Let me know in the comments.

This Posts Picture:

Profile Picture:

(what the old post said:)
So I’ve fallen back in love doing profile pics. I found that simple works best for me. I love how it turned out. It made me reflect on my second life and how much my avatar has changed. Even in the past couple of weeks she looked so much better, more realistic. More me. I used to hate ginger SL hair. Now I realize it’s actually my favourite, and freckles and I’ve begun to ass make up and jewellery to my avatar. Every little thing helps, honestly. I’m in love with her!

(now:)
I think I could have done a lot more, there’s certainly a lot more I could have done that I might try to fix along with the Faun Picture in the previous posts. I’ll do them again so I can compair how much I’ve actually grown as an artist.